By Your Side
by CLMScagliotti
Summary: "All I want now is to be with you, 'cause you know I've been everywhere else. Looking back at what you got me through, you knew me better than I knew myself." Clinks High School AU


By Your Side

A/N: KNOCK KNOCK. Alright my dear readers, this is a story I've been plotting with for awhile now. Jayde came to me with the idea and I'm honored to work with a girl with her imagination.

It's a high school AU. This chapter plays about three or four years before the real story as an introduction. The current main characters are Claudia Donovan, Steven Jinks, Olivia Jinks and on the sidelines Emma Jinks and Meagan Reese. The rest of the team will appear on the sidelines later, but the main characters will be Steve and Claude.

The title of the story as well as the one for this chapter, the intro and summary is taken from the song By Your Side by Lifehouse.

Introduction/ Chapter 1: Stumbling Backwards In The Dark

Fighting my way back to where you are

The only place I ever felt at home

Stumbling backwards through the dark

I know how it feels to be alone

And where we go is where I wanna be

And in the silence I hear you say to me

I'll be by your side.

Claudia Donovan was officially on the run again. The twelve year old girl had been living with this family for a few months now, but she couldn't stay there anymore. She had hoped that this time it would finally work out. That maybe she actually found a place to stay at. At least for a year or two. But it was once again proven to her that there was no family out there in this universe who could accept her the way she simply was. Within two years she'd already been stuck in more so-called homes than she cared to count.

At first they seemed to be a nice family. It all looked so picture perfect. With mother Melissa Reese, the loving housewife. With her husband Micheal Reese, the fair and justice loving lawyer. And of course their daughter Meagan Reese. Meagan was the typical cheerleader on the outside. At the beginning she'd been so mean and she acted like everybody in the room should be grateful to be aloud to stand so close to someone like her. But after a few weeks they started bonding. Claudia found out that Meagan was adopted, which was a secret the blonde kept from everybody else. They became friends. And soon after that they considered each other sisters.

Sadly the time when Claudia found out that Meagan wasn't half as bad as she thought, she also found out that Michael and Melissa were twice as bad. Melissa would become tired of them and suddenly disappear for a few days without saying a word. And he wasn't any better. Michael was known to keep calm under any pressure. Even when a case hit close to his own home he always saw it rationally. Claudia thought that he could do that simply because it was his job. But by now she started to doubt he actually cared about what happened. All he wanted from this job was money. And maybe a few opportunities to argue with others.

At least at home he did that all the time. Whenever his wife decided to take some time off again, the ugliest sides of her husband's personality came to see the light of the day. He kept shouting at the girls. And when he was sure nobody was watching, he used them as his professional punching bags.

Claudia decided to find a solution. She didn't know any close relatives of her own. But Meagan once told her her real mother's name. And if she already couldn't get away from here, she would at least open the gates for her foster sister.

The girl's computer skills were something she usually kept close to her chest. She didn't want anybody to know about what she could do. She was planning her break out of the system. And she didn't want them to see this coming around the corner. But she quit all of her own researches to find a way to help her friend.

And what she found was exactly what she was looking for. She had to bypass about a zillion firewalls and invade about a thousand people's privacy, but she found out that Meagan indeed had an aunt. A living, biological aunt.

Using one of her aliases, she contacted the woman online and informed her about her young relative. And it seems Claudia found just the right words to trigger the wanted reaction from her: Meagan's aunt called the system and asked them to be aloud to take the girl in. Nobody knew how she could possibly know about her dead sister's daughter. But they had better things to do. When the Reeses wouldn't gives their adopted daughter away, the case went in front of the court almost immediately. Those went on for about three months until the judges finally decided to leave the decision to Meagan herself last week. Claudia could still hear the hesitant knock on her room's door. The blonde refused to leave Claudia alone there.

But Claudia just shook her head. She told Meagan that it was her idea in first place. That this was all part of her plan. After they'd been discussing for nearly an hour, Claudia had finally convinced her to leave.

So now that Claudia was sure this would work out, she didn't have a reason to stay with those people anymore. In fact, it would only help Meagan's aunt to prove that Micheal and Melissa were terrible parents. So it was a win-win situation for her, right?

She didn't tell Meagan that she was leaving. Her friend and fellow foster child would have only tried to stop her. Claudia already had the small bag with her stuff underneath her bed. She always did. Because she always expected to leave.

She had only been waiting for the night to come. It was easier to hide in the shadows. And maybe, just maybe, nobody would catch her this time.

Claudia quickly got dressed and ready to leave. Meagan fell asleep about an hour ago. A sad smile crossed the runaway's face. Leaving Meagan behind wasn't easy. But at least she'd made sure that the blonde would get a new chance. Even though her aunt was living in Illinois, while Claudia was stuck in New Jersey for now.

But there had to be a price. And Claudia was more that willing to be the one to pay.

She'd mentally gone through her plan about a thousand times already. The girl had seen it coming around the corner that Melissa would disappear again under those circumstances. She was probably drowning her worries in vodka at a nearby bar. Micheal didn't return from work yet. Claudia knew that, because she made sure to mess with a few work schedules to keep him away long enough.

So it was her chance now. She would walk out and nobody would even notice that she's gone until Meagan woke up in the morning.

Taking a deep breath in, she hurried down the stairs with her usual runaway bag. She suddenly felt bad for leaving Meagan without any further explanation, but this was the best way. She opened the door and quietly closed it behind herself again. The orphan took a searching look around, afraid one of the neighbors would see her.

And once she was sure nobody was watching her escape, she ran. She ran through the dark and took more turns than she planned too until she completely lost track of where she was. She turned around while she slowed down a little bit, hoping to catch sight of any familiar buildings. But all she could see was the darkness of the night. That's when the doubts came. And they were soon accompanied by panic. So she did what she planned to do, even though her plans were about to get shaken and shattered. She closed her eyes and ran. She tightened her grip on the strap of her bag and desperately tried to hold back her tears, only to feel the sky's tears rolling down her cheek. Raindrops. It was raining. As if this wasn't already a terrible night for her. She ran faster and faster until she literally ran out of oxygen. Her eyes stayed closed as she dropped onto her knees and let the tears come. She didn't know how long she just sat there and cried, constantly feeling how the cold raindrops washed her hot tears away.

"Hey."

Claudia froze. Was she going entirely crazy now or did someone just talk to her? Did Meagan find her after all? The voice sounded friendly, but so unfamiliar. She slowly opened her eyes and looked up at a brunette girl, maybe two or three years older than her. The stranger seemed to study her face with a worried expression on her own. Claudia couldn't say anything, but the older girl certainly could.

"Hey, are you okay? What in heaven's name are you doing on a cemetery all alone at night?"

A cemetery? Claudia took a look at her surroundings for the first time now. And indeed she was surrounded by gravestones and creepy old trees. This looked like one of those movies Melissa didn't want them to watch. And maybe that was the best parental advice she ever got from her former foster mother.

"I..."

The stranger smiled sympathetically. "You don't have the slightest clue where you are, do you?"

Claudia rolled her lips in and nodded slowly.

The brunette smirked reassuringly. "No worries, kid. It doesn't matter right now. I'm Olivia by the way. But you can call me Liv."

Claudia was still afraid, but this Olivia seemed to be a trustworthy girl. The younger brunette even found herself smiling a little bit.

"I'm Claudia."

Olivia's expression brightened visibly. "So you can talk properly after all. It's nice to meet you, Claudia. Now, if you don't mind me asking, why are you here?"

Claudia hesitated for a moment. Should she really tell her story to a complete stranger?

"I'm... I ran away from my foster parents."

Olivia's eyes widened and she gulped. "I'm sorry to hear that. But... if it helps you somehow, I'm here to visit my dad. Or rather the cold stone with my dad's name on it." The brunette looked to the ground.

Claudia looked up at her with wide and sad eyes. And for a few minutes the only sound surrounding the girls was the rain dripping from the trees. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence, quite the opposite. But it reminded them where they were. This was still a barely lit cemetery and it was still raining.

Both girls started to freeze in their rain soaked clothes. It was Olivia who broke the silence again. "Damn, I should have brought an umbrella. But we should go out of this weather anyways. I'm sure you can stay with me, mom and Stevie for now. If that's okay for you?"

Claudia thought about that for a moment. She never expected to get an offer like this. But she's only been with people who picked her to go with them in the last years. Maybe it was time for her to choose a family on her own. And a big sister like Liv was definitely a good start. And this time she was asked. It was entirely Claudia's choice. She couldn't expect them to take her in for longer, but to Claudia 'for now' could be one of the best parts of her youth. So her decision was made pretty quickly. "I'd like that. If it's really okay for your mom."

Olivia grinned. "Don't worry, Claude. My mom and my little brother will love you. You'll help me to bring a little bit of life and colors into that old house. Come on!"

The brunette took the younger girl by the wrist and took off running. Claudia nearly stumbled at the sudden movement, but she wanted to get out of the cold and into a welcoming home for once. And suddenly the orphan noticed something. Running through the rain with Liv didn't feel like running away. She didn't leave a place, she was on her way to one. She had a destination. And despite the cold rain and her exhausted feet she found herself laughing at the thought.

They ran and laughed together for about ten minutes before they reached a tall house. Both of them were tired and freezing, but that couldn't ruin the mood right now. Even though Claudia was a little bit nervous. After all, she was about to ask a complete stranger if she could stay at their house for some time. And she couldn't even tell them when she would leave again. She always left when she wanted to, but what if she wouldn't want to leave Liv's family again?

Suddenly Claudia felt Liv squeezing her hand lightly. Turning to look at her new friend, she was greeted by that reassuring smile again. "It'll be alright, Claude. Mom will be a little bit surprised at first, but she'll get over it. Usually I just bring little animals home and no human children. But she's my mom. She's used to it. Besides, when she sees us she'll be worried in first place. I wouldn't be surprised if she asked you to stay." She narrowed her eyes at me, clearly waiting for me to calm down. Well, to calm my nerves. In the literal sense, I was already freezing. I gave her a short nod to tell her that I was as ready as I'll ever be. She took a step forward and rang the doorbell.

After only a few seconds the door flew open and revealed a redheaded woman. I'm not sure if the color was natural though. Probably not. Other than that I could only confirm what Liv told me. Her mother looked worried. It's been a few years since I've last seen such a caring mom. She looked confused when she spotted me but instead of asking anything she just pulled us inside, closing the door behind us.

I took a few seconds to look around the room. There were stairs leading to the second floor and there were pictures of the happy family on the walls. I focused my gaze on one picture. It seemed to have been taken around the Christmas time. The decorated tree was bringing light into the entire living room. The lucky parents were sitting on the sofa, the father's arm around his wife's shoulders. She had pulled her feet onto the seat. On the floor in front of them sat Liv. She seemed to be around 7 or 8 years old. On her lap sat a boy, about one or two years younger than her. Liv's head was resting on her brother's left shoulder. All four of them were smiling brightly.

A small smile appeared on Claudia's face. They looked so happy. Claudia almost began to cry again. This image awoke so many memories in her mind. She felt Liv's hand on her shoulder and turned to look at her. The older girl looked very worried. But before either of them could say anything, Liv's mother spoke up.

"Livi, why didn't you come home when it began to rain? You can't stay out of school so much just because you keep catching colds. It's no wonder. You're always out there in the cold. How many times did I already tell you to come back as soon as you start to freeze or when it's raining? And who is your new friend? Was she out there freezing too? Where were you two?"

Liv rolled her eyes. "Mom, I'll be fine. I was just... taking a walk. That's all. I met Claudia in the nearby park. She's cold and I'm sure she's tired and hungry too. I offered her to ask you if she could stay with us for a few nights? She's completely innocent I swear. But the story is long and it's late. She can sleep in my room, right?"

Claudia almost had to laugh at Liv's expression. Her eyes went wide and she shoved her lower lip forward. To the end of her short explanation her voice sounded almost begging. She looked like a hungry puppy. Something like this would never work at any of Claudia's foster homes. But it seemed that it worked here. But Claudia still felt that she needed to ask for herself.

"I'm sorry, Mrs..." She looked to the ground. She didn't even know her last name.

The woman just smiled slightly, feeling sorry for the child. "Jinks. But you can call me Emma."

Claudia smiled back at her, feeling reassured by Mrs Jinks' friendly offer. "Thank you. Listen... I know this is not something you get asked every day. But right now I really don't know where to go. I can't go back to where I came from. I'm not asking you to keep me here longer than I'm welcome. I just hope that I can stay here for a night or two. Or at least until tomorrow, when it's not raining anymore and I can see where I'm going again."

Emma sighed and shook her head. "Okay. Claudia, was it?" At the girl's nod, she continued. "Claudia, I'm not gonna let you go anywhere until I can be sure you know where you're going. And you just told me yourself that you don't know that. So you'll stay here for now. As Liv already suggested, I believe you should stay in her room. You two already seem to get along. And I'm sure Steven won't mind. I hope you know that you'll have to tell me how this all started though. But that can wait until tomorrow."

Both girls let out a deep breath and smiled at each other. That was just about the best reaction they could have expected. Claudia just stood there for a moment, hesitating. She stayed silent for nearly a minute before she rushed forward and wrapped her arms around Emma. "Thank you." Her voice was barely above a whisper. She was almost as surpirsed by her own actions as the others were. Emma just looked at her for a few second before she laughed.

"It's no problem, Claudia. I don't know what's going on in your life, but who would I be to send a girl in need of help away? After all you can't be older than 13."

"I'm 12." She slowly pulled away. "But my age never mattered to me."

"12?" Emma smirked. "Well then you're offically the youngest here. My daughter Olivia is almost 15 and her brother Steven is 13. But I imagine you're very tired. Livi can borrow you a shirt for tonight. You can't very well stay in those cold clothes. The same goes for you too, Liv. Are you two hungry?"

Olivia nodded eagerly. "Food sounds good. Can you warm a pizza up?"

"Olivia, it's late. This is not the time for pizza."

"Please, mom! I'm really hungry. And I'm sure I've got Claude and Stevie on my side."

Claudia chuckled quietly until she noticed that she wasn't the only one who thought this conversation was hilarious. She quickly turned around to see where the sound came from. A boy with bright blue eyes stood in the doorway to what she assumed was the kitchen. They smiled at each other when Olivia wrapped one right arm around Claudia's shoulders. Steve smirked at his sister.

"What did you bring home this time, Liv? She doesn't look like the cat you brought last week at all."

Olivia rolled her eyes. "Claude, that's my brother Steve. Stevie, that's Claudia. And she's my friend. So you should be nice to her. She'll be staying in my room for some time."

"That sounds great. So who decided to take you in return?"

Claudia had to bite her tongue to make sure she wouldn't laugh. Those two sounded like Joshua and Claire. And there went her good mood. She kept her smile on her face and struggled to push the negative thoughts and hurtful memories into the back of her mind. She didn't notice how the boy studied her expression. He raised his eyebrows. "Hey, are you alright?"

She looked up at him, surprised that he was the one who asked. Or that anyone asked at all. She thought about her answer for a second, then she nodded quickly. She wanted to avoid questions. "I'm fine."

He narrowed his eyes at the girl. She was lying. And her expression told him that this was an habit of hers. But she didn't want to lie. She just felt like she had to. He felt sorry for her. She looked so hurt. And she tried to cover it up. She tried to hide behind a masquerade. But she couldn't know that he could see right through it. He looked into her eyes and he got an image of what happened to her. And what he saw scared him. In moments like this his special gift felt like a curse. But maybe he could help her.

Liv's eyes wandered from Claudia to Steve and back. She knew about her brother's abilities. But his expression gave away way more about their guest's condition than Claudia's own. Olivia didn't remember ever seeing her little brother so affected by another person's worries. Even though she wasn't sure what exactly was going on there. Instead she decided to switch the topic and finally get rid of her hunger.

"So pizza?"

Emma sighed and looked at the two youngest in the room, hoping for a little bit help from there. But Steve only nodded and Claudia didn't look like she cared about what they'd eat. She only looked tired.

So they ended up sitting in the living room and eating three different pizzas only half an hour later. It felt like Claudia was eating with a family for the first time in years. And in a way that was even true. She sat on the sofa between the siblings while their mother sat on an armchair on the opposite side of the table. Occasionally they exchanged a few words, but they mostly just sat in a comfortable silence. All of them were too tired to actually think.

After they finished eating, Emma asked Liv to help her to bring the dishes to the kitchen. Of course Liv saw that as an opportunity. While her mother turned on the water, she leant back against the counter and smiled. "You know she needs a place to stay at, right? Like, for a few years and not a few days."

Emma sighed and glanced at her daughter. "Livi, I already have two children here. We couldn't handle a cat. How would I handle a third kid? And we know nothing about her. What's her last name? Where did she come from? What happened to her family?"

"I know that she's really cool and that she fits in here. She needs help. She needs a family. And we could be that family! I always wanted to have a sister! And Stevie likes her too. And so do you. She's good for us and you know it. This place is so dark and cold since dad died. I know how she feels. We can't give her a dad. But you could be her new mom. You want to help her too. I can see it in the way you watch us. You imagine how it would be if we kept her around. Just admit it! You can see this working out just the way I do."

"Of course I thought about it, Olivia. But she's not a pet. We can't just keep her. This is very complicated. Please, just let me think about it for a while, okay?"

Liv sighed and nodded. She couldn't force her mother to take Claudia in as her daughter, even though she could see how much Emma wanted that herself. She could only hope. When they came back to the living room, they were greeted by an unexpected sight.

Claudia had pulled her feet up onto the sofa. The girl's head was resting on the boy's shoulder and both of the children had closed their eyes. It seems they all had a long day behind them. Olivia smiled. It was weird how fast her usually so distant little brother got used to the new girl. The younger kids looked so cute. And a quick glance at her mother confirmed that she thought just the same thing. That's when Olivia knew that she had a new little sister now.


End file.
